Kawakawa

Kawakawa ( Piper ex­cel­cium) can be taken to ease di­ges­tion prob­lems and also func­tions as a mild anal­gesic. Per­haps most im­por­tantly it is said that con­sum­ing kawakawa pro­vides one with strength and re­ju­ve­na­tion to face ex­treme phys­i­cal and psy­cho­log­i­cal stress sit­u­a­tions. The slightly crushed leaves can sim­ply be brewed into a tea. In large quan­ti­ties the leaves are thought to be toxic, but one or two leaves for a cup of tea won’t be prob­lem­atic. The berries are among the more pleas­ant-tast­ing you can find in the NZ bush, as long as you don’t bite into the tiny hard seeds.

For toothache, chew on kawakawa leaves, which won’t taste great but will cer­tainly numb the pain. Ap­pli­ca­tion of a poul­tice of kawakawa leaves is also use­ful for wounds.